‘Everest tested herendurance & spirit’

Lucknow: Recalling his wife Aparna Kumar’s remarkable Everest journey 10 years after her historic climb, senior IAS officer Sanjay Kumar told TOI that her success was a triumph of resilience, faith and extraordinary mental strength over repeated setbacks.

“Aparna cracked the UPSC in her first attempt, but Everest tested every aspect of her endurance and spirit,” said Sanjay Kumar, a 2002-batch IAS officer currently serving as the director of the Uttar Pradesh Administration and Management Academy.

“Before every expedition, she prayed to the Mountain God, seeking blessings and permission to safely reach the summit,” he recalled.

After two failed Everest attempts due to natural calamities, Aparna returned to training within months with even greater determination, he said, adding “she spent weeks in the Himalayas acclimatizing herself and strengthening her endurance and core fitness for another attempt at the world’s highest peak.

During her third expedition from the Tibet side in 2016, favourable weather finally offered hope, but midway through the climb she was hit by a severe stomach infection.

“She survived largely on liquids and khichdi, but kept climbing despite rapidly losing weight, energy and strength. By the end of the nearly 45-day expedition, she had lost more than 12 kg,” he said.

Describing her eventual Everest summit as a triumph of “mental toughness, discipline and unbreakable resolve,” Sanjay Kumar said Aparna never allowed adversity to overpower her determination.